Inherited Vs. Learned Traits
Every organism on the planet is a unique work of biological art sculpted by billions of genes that determine our identity. In terms of human beings, every one is different. Some people have blue eyes, some people have brown hair, some people can paint, some people can sing. It's these traits, both learned and inherited, that determine what we are. The differences between the two are vast indeed.
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Basics
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In terms of traits, we have two types that are visible predominantly. Learned and inherited, these traits form everything about every living thing, from microorganisms to larger, more complex life. At first glance, the difference is obvious: Learned traits are skills and other various mental processes. Inherited traits encompass a completely physical nature, determining what an organism looks like. While this may be sound to an extent, there are various exceptions, like instincts, that contradict this basic rule.
Learned Traits
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Learned traits are generally behavioral traits obtained by a given organism to correspond with its environment and its survival needs. These are not inherited, and must be learned in the organism's lifetime through observation of trial and error. These behaviors are learned, and very often forced upon the given organism in order to enrich survival. For example, while many pet dogs are housebroken, it is not a trait or skill that they're born with, it's something that must be learned. In humans, the instinct to avoid pain or injury is a skill that is learned throughout infancy, which is why human babies can be so vulnerable to hazardous obstacles around the home. These traits may be learned on the basis of trial-and-error through a series of stimulus-response events, as has been demonstrated with cats, dogs and rodents.
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Inherited Traits
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Inherited traits are traits that, as their title implies, are inherited from parents. These usually include physical traits, including eye color, height, skin tone, hair color, and susceptibility to certain diseases like diabetes. There is debate over whether or not certain behaviors can be inherited, which would mean that our behavior and preferences are programmed into our genes from birth as inherited by our parents. The more accepted theory is that most behavior is a product of an organism's environment, but, as we will see, there are exceptions and gray areas to this school of thought, as such with instincts and other behaviors that are unique in that their existence is evident from birth.
Unique Cases
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There are several cases throughout the animal kingdom that make the general principles of inherited and learned traits uncertain. For example, flight among birds is considered to be a learned trait that is adopted by hatchlings by watching their parents. This is debatable, as some birds seem to be able to fly even if they're born in a hatchery and raised by humans, thus indicating that it is an inherited trait. While some of these traits may be debatable in terms of whether or not they're inherited or learned, other behavioral traits, like instincts, are certainly inherited.
Instincts
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Instincts are defined as the inborn complex behavior of any given organism that is not learned, but inherited, making them very unique behavioral traits. A famous example of a very unique instinct in the animal kingdom is the behavior of the archer fish, which spits streams of water up at insects in overhanging trees, causing them to fall into the water where they can be consumed. When the eggs of leatherback turtles hatch, the hatchlings' immediatley scamper for the ocean, another famous example of animal instinct. In human beings, sexual desires have been described as an instinct, as well as other natural behaviors like sleeping, facial perception and learning language. Anothern instinct that some theories suggest is instinctual in humans is a sense of fairness, as has been seen with studies conducted by the University of Oregon's Bill Harbaugh.
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